Mortuary vault for ships.



No. 858,683 PATENTED JULY 2, 1907. W. S. UPSHUR.

MORTUARY VAULT FOR SHIPS.

APPLICATION FILED NOTED. 1906.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

3 I a; a a www PATENTED JULY 2, 1907.

. I w. s; UPSHUR. MORTUARY VAULT FOR SHIPS.

T'IOF FILED NOV. 80, 1908'.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

PATENTED JULY 2, 1907.

w. :s. n-rsnun. MORTUARY VAULT FOR SHIPS.

APPLIOATIOH FILED HOV. 20, 1906.

'4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

ada' 2 a fig PATENTED JULY '2, 1907.

, W. s. UPSHUR. MORTUARY VAULT FOR SHIPS,

APPLICATION FILED N0-V.20|1906.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

a f r ZV/Lzzawg; v 7

' WALTER S. UPSHUR, OF NEWPORT NEWS, VIRGINIA.

MORTUARY VAULT FOR SHIPS.

T o all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WALTER S. Ursmm, a citizen of the United States, residing at Newport News, in the county of Warwick and State of Virginia, have invented certain new and v useful Improvements in Mortuary Vaults for Ships, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide ships with vaults in which the bodies of those dying at sea may be preserved until the ships reach port. Heretoiore, sofar as I am aware,'no meanshas been provided for this purpose, the usual practice being to throw dead bodies overboard. So repulsive is this to many that they refrain from taking an ocean voyage, and the thought of .being thus consigned to the sea and made "food for fishes, is, to say the least, extremely unpleasant to others during a voyage. I

, In my companion application for patent No. 344,332 filed November 20, 1906, I have shown a cofiin of suitable construction for receiving a dead body and storing it during a voyage. This cotfin is so constructed and equipped that the body may be securely fastened and orthe ship, and securely store them against interfer-' ence by unauthorized persons. The vault is provided with means for refrigerating the air within it andis constructed to prevent the escape of cold air or the entrance of warm air, and also to avoid any increase of tempe1a= ture withinit' by conduction from theoutside through its'walls.

.' In the accompanying'drawings I have illustrated the ways now best known tome of carrying out my inven tion, but the details of construction shown may be varied and some of the parts may be changedwithout departing from the novel features of my improvements.

Figure 1 shows aivertical transverse section of the hull of a ship equipped my improvements. Fig.

2 shows a longitudinal vertical section-oi one of my.- improved mortuary vaults, the section being taken. 45

on the line 2-2 of Fig. 3 and looking in the direction ofthe arrow in Fig. 3. Fig. 3 shows a vertical transvverse section of the vault on the liiie-3-3 of Fig. 2 look ing in the direction of the arrow'inl ig. 2. Fig. 4 is a perspective view'ot apart of the interior of the vau1t' showing certain details of construction th'ereim and.

Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed November 20, 1906. Serial M344 3;

' Patented July 2, 1907.

of the interior frame and the mannerof supporting the rollers on which the coflins rest. Fig. 7 is a detail view in section illustrating particularly how the doors are hinged to the body of the vault and how the joint of the .doors with the vault body is rendered air tight.

8 is a similar view showing another way of packing or rendering air-tight the joint of the doors with the body of the vault. Fig. 9 is a detail view in section showing the air-tight joint of the doors with each other.

Fig. 10 is a detail view in perspective showing the consti'uction of the racks employed for. supporting the refrigerating coils. Fig. 11 is a detail view in perspective of the clamping and locking devices for drawing the doors close against their air-tight packing.

The chamber, A, in which the vault, B, is located 7 may be in any suitable part of the ship. The refriger-' ating plant, 0, may be in its accustomed place and refrigerating pipes, D, are led from the plant to the vault, 1

which is constructed in themanner presently described, being supported on channel beams or girders, E, arranged on the'deck beneath it and thevault may be suitably braced and held against vertical movement by braces, E, interposed between its top and the ceiling of the compartment in which the vault is located.

In front of the doors of the vault I arrange means for 1 elevating, suspending and moving a coffin, X. 'lhismay be of any suitable construction. When the cofiin arrives at the vault it may be supported on blocks, a: in

proximity to the vault, and the coflin may be elevated 35 by block and fall hoisting devices, X, of any? suitable construction. These devices are preferably supported by overhead trolleys, X arranged on rails, X. T The arrangement is such that 'the-c'ofiin may be easily elevated, then moved part way into the vault, and after that the hoisting devices may be disconnected from the cofiln and the latter pushed into the vault and locked therein in the manner hereinafter described. I

1, preferably employ in the construction .of the vault mild ship steel, commercial shapes being used where possible, brass wherever desirable, and. where wood,

- cork and the like are used I employ, the best obtainable material.

iThe outei' shell, F, of the vault is preferably constructed' of steel plate, such as boiler plate, connected" 100.- by' angle irons, f, and the joints of the plates should be,

carefully calked. The vault is closed and the parts are made rigid at the botwin, top, two sides and back,

1 while the front is provided with doors constructed and operated in the" manner hereinafter described. The

shell isin the lollowing manners- A wooden G, "of suitable construction is arranged on the inside of the shell, and to this grating are secured layers of cork,', H, .two layers being preferably employed, as illustrated. The inside of the cork layers is completely materials as equivalent-materials may be substituted. There is an air-space, f between the shell, F, and the cork which affords additional insulation. I have not shown the details-of joining the parts or of securing them together as these may be Widely varied.

is formed all around the beams in which is arranged bars, K, which areappro'ximately Z-shape in cross.

section, or theyrnay becalled double angle bars. One

part, is, of thebar projects to the edge of the plate, F, while the other part, in, projects across the front face of the b'eam,.j. Two doors, L, are preferably employed; They are hinged to opposite sides of the frame, J, and meet inidwaybetween the side frames,

as indicated in Fig. ,5. Each of these doors is hinged at, M, to the sides of the frame, .l, in the manner illustrated in- Figa. 5 and 8. It will be observed that the hinges extend across the recesses in the frame and permit the doors to be thrown wide open, and to be properly closed. The doors are preferably constructed in thernanner shown in Fig. 2. The outer frame, Z, has secured to its outer face a shell or plates, Z similar to the plates, F,. and just within the shell is an ranged a wooden grating, Z similar to the grating, G.

Uponthe grating isapplied layers of cork, Z and sheet zinc, or similar material, Z is applied inside the layers of cork. While the materials specified are preferred, other materials may be employed, and different arrangements may be adopted for obtaining strength combined with proper. insulation.

I arrange a thermometer, N, in one of doors in. a suitable frame, N, whichfis provided with a window; N By this means the temperature within the vault Jmay bereadily determined I deem itirnportant'that-the joints of the doors with each other and with ,the doorfrarne should be airtight. The'doors' overlap and connect with each othenin the manner particularly shown in Fig. 9.

The frame of one of the doors is formed with a recess, 0, in which is arranged vertically a' wire or rod, 0, over which is stretched rubber or similar soft material,-'0, held in place by strips, o The other door has an overlapping portion, 0, adapted to come in contact with the rubber, o.. When the doors close together and are clamped in place, the rubber is compressed and by thismeans an airstight connection is afforded; The joints of the doors with the door frame, ..I, are also packed,'preferably in the manner indicated in Fig' 8. The front plate or shell, Z, of each door is provided with a projecting portion, Z flanged at Z.

The time, I, 'is provided all around its edge with 'wires orrods, P, over which is stretched rubber or similar soft material, p, held in place by metal strips, 72. The flanges, Z come in contact with the rubber when the doors are closed and when the doors are locked and clamped the rubber iscompressed and affords air-tight joints.

In order to insure the compression ofthe packing material, i. provide clamping and locking devices, Q,

shown in detail in ll, each consisting of a hasp, q,

pad gfla threaded eye-bolt, g and a clamping nut, The hasps or slotted plates, q, are attached to the doors at their outer edges at the points indicated in Fig. 5, there being one located at the side edge ofeach door midway between its hinges, M, one at the top of each door near its edge'which meets the other door, and another at the bottom of the door near its meeting edge. The pad-eyes are attached to the Z-bars, K, in the manner clearly shown in Figs. 5 and 8. The eye-bolls, q, are joined to the podcyes in the usual way and are free to swing in any direction when loose. -W hen the nuts, 11 are loosened the bolts may be swung out of engagement with the hasps, q, and the doors may be swung open. are shut, the bolts may be made to engage the hasps and then if the nuts, (1 be tightened the doors will be drawn close against the rubber packing and insure an airstight joint all around. Any suitable locking device, B, may be employed. I have shown a conventional device for this purpose, but other locks may, of course, be substituted.

I In Fig. 7 I have shown a slightly modified constl .1"-- tion. In this figure of the drawings, a strip of packing material, 7', is applied to a projecting portion, 2", of the door, and this packing material is made to engage the adjacent edge of. the Z-bar, K. 7

Within the vault is arranged a frame for supporting the refrigerating coils, S, and the coflius, X. This frame is preferably constructed in the following way? Plates, T, of sheet steel, such as boiler plate, and having ventilating openings, 6, which are also for the purpose of lightening the material, are connected by angle irons, t, or in any other suitable way to the shell, F. Two of these plates are arranged a short distance apart in the central portion of the vault and extend from top to bottom thereof backwardly to within u short distance from the back of the vault, and forwardly to within ashort distance from the doors. Two similar plates, T, are arranged in a similar way a short distance from the opposite side Walls of the vault. Air can freely circulate around the front'and rear ends of the plates and also through the openings, Z.

Vertically arranged rack bars, U, preferably made of angle iron, as shown in Fig. 10, are secured to the outside of the outside plates, T, and support the refrigerating coils in the manner shown. These angle irons also serve to stiffen the outer plates, T, while the inner plates are stiffened by means of stiffening strips, 1%, arranged vertically and lying against the adjacent surfaces of both of the inner vertical plates. In order to further stiffen the frame and to provide supports for the anti-friction rollers, V, I employ horizontally arranged rods, W, which oxtend straight through all four of the vertical plates, in the manner clearly shown, as well as through the racks, U, and the stiffening strips,t These bars are secured in place in the manner presently described.

Rollers, V, are arranged on the rods, W, to receive the coffins, X, which are provided with metal strips, z, to bear against the rollers. Each of the rods, W, is threaded at opposite ends, as indicated at w, and also centrally or midway between its ends at 11/, see Fig. 6. The outer roller, V, on each rod, W, is held between a washer and collar, V, and awasher and nut, V. The collar, V, may be fastened in place by a set screw while the nut, V is applied to the threaded end, w,

When the doors lOO rotate on the rod. The nut, V and a nut, V to clamp the rod, W, to the central plates, T. The rods,

seams inside the outer plate, T. A nut, V is applied to the threaded end of the rod which projects outwardly from the rack bar. In this way the rod is firmly secured 'to the outer vertical plate, '1, while the roller is held in position but is free to rotate on the rod. The opposite end of the rod is applied to the opposite outer plate, T, in a similar way and the outer roller next the other outer plate is also mounted in a similar manner. The rods, W, extend through the inner vertical plates, T, and the stiffening strips, 11 The rollers, V, next the central plates, T, are each mounted between a collar, V and a' washer, '0 on oneside and a washer 12 and a nut, V on the opposite side andare free to serve W, are arrangedin such vertical and horizontal planes as to hold the rollers, V, in proper'position to receive and support the coffins.

' the zinc coating thereof, I pro'videa stop plate, Y,

I have shown the vault adapted to receive six coflins,

but, of course, it may be constructed to receive a This is secured'in any suitable way, as by angle irons, y, to the central plates, T, and need only be large enough to come in contact with a portion of the rear however, that the box or-outer casing, so as to permit the entrance of cold air. Within the ends of the. coflins, as illustrated in Figs. -2, 3 and 4; When the coffinsare inserted they are pushed back against the stop plate, Y, andare held against the plate by means of cross bars, Y, which engage catches, Y secured to. the vertical plates, T. By these means the collins are securely held in place and are unaffected by the rolling 'of the ship.

The details ofconstruction of the cofin, X, are fully shown, described and claimed in. my application for patent No. 344, 332, above referred to. It maybe said,

box is an enameled inner receptacle, Z, provided with a perforated false bottom, Z which is held above the bottom of the vessel, Z, by cleats, Z ancf'is centered "or held away from the walls or" the vessel, Z, by laterally projecting arms, Z. The cover, Z, of the cofiin is held in place by securing devices, Z", and the false, bottom, Z ,-is held down by means of vertical posts,

Z which engage the perforations in the false bottom and in the cover. A head piece, Z and a foot piece, Z are adjustably secured in the coflm so that they may be made to bear against the head and feet of the corpse to hold it against endwise'unovement, and adjustable cross bars, Z are employed .for holding the body down upon the false bottom. In this way any injurious movement of the body within the cofiin is prevented;

By my improvements the body of one dying at sea maybe secured in a coffin or casket in such manner as to be held against movement therein in any direction and yet may be free from danger of decomposition because of a free circulation of coldair all around it.

The refrigerating coils may be of, such capacity .to

keep the interior of the vault at the proper ternperature and inasmuch as the: vault is thoroughly insulated there need be no waste of therefrigemtinglmmnn or" plates and tying ing the plates and supporting the rods.

. tion, vertically arranged tlon, a door rendered air-tight,

Z, is perforated any undue burden imposed onthe refrigerating plant.

' it overboard, as has heretofore been the custom.. A

body may be preserved in this way during a long voyage, and when the ship arrives at portthebody, in a perfect state of preservation, may be transferred to a suitable cofiin or casket and consigned to a proper destination for interment in the ordinary way.

I claim as my invention: I 1. A mortuary vault for ships comprising a'bodyjportion'made fire and burglar proof and lined with insulatlug material, a coff n supporting frame within the vault, a stop arranged at the rear end of the frame for preventing the coflins from moving rarwardly and means at the the colfins against the front end of the frame for holding stop and for preventing forward movement thereof;-

- 2. A mortuary vault for ships shell or casing, the grating applied thereto provided with air spaces, layers of insulating material applied to the grating, a metallic lining for the coflln supporting frame within theyault and means for holding the cofllns against -endwise movement therein.

comprising the outer insulating material, a I

3. A 'mortuaryvault for ships composed of an outer casing and 'an vertical plates,

inner frame comprising the ventilated horizontally arranged rods joining the them together and rack-bars for stiffen- 4. A mortuary vault for ships comprising a body portion and an inner frame consisting of vertically arranged plates, horizontally arranged rods tying'the plates to-.

gether and bracing them for supporting thecofiins.

-5. A mortuary vault for ships comprising a body p0land rollers mounted on the rods to the plates and refrigerating coils mounted inthe rack-ban 6. A mortuary vault for ships-comprising a body porplates therein, rack-bars secured inner frame plates securely fastened to ,the body portion of the vault, means for stiffening the frame, horizontally arranged rods for tying the plates together and bracing them, rollers carriedby the rods, a stop plate secured to the rear end of the plates and locking b'ars applied to the plates at their front ends,

7. The combination of an air-tight vault, a coflin supporting frame within the vault constructed to provide-for a free circulation of cold air, means-for holding the coflins steady in their frame, refrigerating means within the vault, and :1 perforated'coflin constructed to provide for a free circulationof cold air within it.

8. The combination of a burglar and fire\proof\rlt lined with insulating material and provided with anl irtight door, a coflin supporting frame within the valilv o structed to provide free circulation of cold air, means or holding the coffins steady in their "frame and a per-foreted-.. coflin constructed to provide for a free circulation of' cold air and provided with against movement within it. ";9. The combination of a mortuary vault constructed of heat insulating material and provided with an airtight door, a coflin supporting frame within the vault constructed to provide free circulation of cold air, means for-circulating arefrigerating medium in the vault, means for holding the coflins steadyjn their frame and a coflin having openings to permit means for securing a corpse In testimony whereof, I have hereuntosubscribed my name. I T

Witnesses g i cold air to come in contact I with the corpse and provided with means for securing the ,corpse agalnst'movement within it. 

